# England kick off against Croatia, as Messi, Mbappe + Haaland shine

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-totally-football-show-with-james-richardson-923658/england-kick-off-against-croatia-as-messi-mbappe-haaland-shine
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-totally-football-show-with-james-richardson-923658/england-kick-off-against-croatia-as-messi-mbappe-haaland-shine.md
Podcast: [The Totally Football Show with James Richardson](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-totally-football-show-with-james-richardson-923658)
Published: 2026-06-17T05:54:24+00:00
Episode link: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/podcast/200-the-totally-football-show/episode-741
Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/6818cd43eb146d8e35d312c7/e/6a3228416a628cec662f26de/media.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-totally-football-show-with-james-richardson-923658/episodes/england-kick-off-against-croatia-as-messi-mbappe-haaland-shine
Duration seconds: 2899

## Resource

England expects ahead of their opener with old rivals Croatia. Jimbo is joined by Duncan Alexander and Tom Williams to preview Day 7 of the World Cup and react to the big hitters coming to play on Day 6. A rampant second half from France sees them past Senegal. Michael Olise is in electrifying form but it’s Kylian Mbappe who breaks multiple records and has more in his sights. Erling Haaland is a World Cup goal scorer, grabbing a brace as Norway thump Iraq 4-1. But not to be outdone. Lionel Messi draws level with Miroslav Klose as all-time tournament top scorer after his very first World Cup hat-trick against Algeria. Will the holders retain for the first time since 1962? Elsewhere on Wednesday, Portugal start their tournament against DR Congo. David Novo joins us to review the Ronaldo conundrum. Join us on Reddit for the Totally Football Show’s Ask Me Anything ahead of the England game! https://www.reddit.com/r/worldcup/comments/1u7mp8k/ama_thread_the_totally_football_show_with_james/   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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